I now there may be some other forum members who's balance issues were resolved with the surgery. From my experience (and it's been 1 year for me so far), the "feeling" has not gone away. My brain has tolerated the feeling, and has gotten better at tolerating it
. I don't like to use the word (for me) "compensate" anymore because to me I felt it was giving more credit to my situation than warranted.
On the surface, I'm "almost as functional" as I was prior to surgery, from an athletic point of view. I still can go for hikes, lift weights, sprint, shovel lots of snow
..... but how I feel on the inside, and how intense I can make the activity before my head starts feeling like it wants to take a nap (or practice couch potato activity).... not the same. My endurance levels are reduced because after too much intensity, my head is just not up to the task. You probably couldn't tell much of a difference by observing me during the earlier timeframe before I start getting tired.
Nonetheless, now that I'm more aware of my limits, I am trying to raise their threshholds. Technique, conservation of energy, and pacing .... has enabled me to shovel snow for many hours (2-4) .... my teenage powerlifting sons get tired before I do.
But I won't kid you .... although my brain has tolerated (or "compensated"), the "feeling" is still 100% there for me (may vary with you, as I mentioned I know one poster who told me balance issues were gone .... happy for her!) .... as for me, the feeling is sometimes better (rarely though) than when I first experienced balance issues, sometimes worse ... but mostly the same. But I have built a tolerance to the feeling, and can function as if I have no balance issues.